Who caught your eye last night?

[bellerephon]

No doubt Yabu still looks raw, but lost is an exaggeration. He was one of the better players in the floor last night. I’m not saying he’s going to be able to make it in the NBA, but let’s not go overboard.

I see you have MUCH higher expectations for Semi than Yabu.

Not really, I don’t expect that Semi will ever be more than an end of bench defensive specialist. I think lots of people around here have wildly inflated ideas about what Semi can be, and I tend to try and point out how limited he really is. He has shown however  that he can have a role in the NBA. Yabu has not done that yet.

[Eja117]

Kormaz

[hardlyyardley]

Bird and Allen

[BlastFromThePast]

The Blonde in the third row

Bleached or natural?  Care to elaborate about any of her other "attributes" which caught your eye?   

[BlastFromThePast]

Kormaz was a man among boys which is to be expected as he was a former 1st round pick and has played extensively in Euro leagues.

RW looked very good in limited minutes (dunk, step back jumper and skied for a rebound in a 1 minute stretch).  Semi played well on both sides of the court.  The kid from URI (Martin) was a force inside in the 4th.  Surprised he's only 6'7".  Looked and played taller than his listed height.   

[Chris22]

Kormaz was a man among boys which is to be expected as he was a former 1st round pick and has played extensively in Euro leagues.

RW looked very good in limited minutes (dunk, step back jumper and skied for a rebound in a 1 minute stretch).  Semi played well on both sides of the court.  The kid from URI (Martin) was a force inside in the 4th.  Surprised he's only 6'7".  Looked and played taller than his listed height.   

I thought Martin might be better than Williams. He looked like a man among boys.

[Chris22]

Bird and Allen

Bird always looks good. I don't understand why he doesn't get more playing time.

[spikelovetheCelts]

I’m a Yabu fan, but admit to being disappointed with his lack of discernible development. You could see how Semi’s game had evolved since last season, how he was asserting himself more offensively.

Not so Yabu. Still more of the same: hustle plays, dumb fouls (7!), not much else. Redeemed himself some at game’s end, but expect more.

He made some good passes. He needs to get down low and use his body like Barkley did.

[DarrenTillis]

Williams looked good in limited action.

Semi was the best Celtic on the court.

Bird was very good too. 

Martin was a revelation down the stretch - would like to see much more of him.

Uthoff is not an NBA player - would like to see much less of him. 

Yabu - flashed in the last few minutes to help bring home the W, but overall just horrible.  Fouling like it was going out of style and is a real "back rim" specialist on his jump shot -- really does not have a soft touch at all, unfortunately.  As an added disappointment, we got to watch him play while Korkmaz -- whom we passed on twice to draft Yabu and Zizic -- lit it up.

[kmart12]

I’m a Yabu fan, but admit to being disappointed with his lack of discernible development. You could see how Semi’s game had evolved since last season, how he was asserting himself more offensively.

Not so Yabu. Still more of the same: hustle plays, dumb fouls (7!), not much else. Redeemed himself some at game’s end, but expect more.

Pretty much my take on his performance as well. He looked comfortable driving to the basketball from the outside, but I didn't see much else to be excited about. I like the idea of his potential, but I think it's more of a projection than actuality at this point.

I thought Semi had an alright game; definitely encouraging to see him be more assertive and use his strength and verticality on offense more. I'm rooting for him.

Williams had a great turn-and-face jumper that I hope becomes a staple in his game. I could get a sense of the athleticism that he's been praised about, but 6 minutes isn't much of a debut.

[Birdman]

Bird and Allen

Bird always looks good. I don't understand why he doesn't get more playing time.

probably would on another team but we are loaded

[vjcsmoke]

Hassan Martin was the biggest surprise for me.  He looks like he would fit right into a tough defending/rebounding rotation.  Could help fill in at power forward.  He is listed at 6'7 but he played bigger than that.

Yabusele looked nonimpactful for most of the nights but he had his moments, particularly in "crunch time" where he took advantage of a late closeout to drive hard at the basket and jam in a much needed 2 points.  He followed that up with a 'dagger' 3 to seal the win for the summer Celtics.

As much as I didn't like how Yabu slept walked for most of the game, his closing flashes show you just why the Celtics have been so patient with him.  Kid has potential to explode.  We just haven't seen that happen yet at the NBA level.  I'd like to see more consistency and activity from Yabu throughout the whole course of the game.

And clearly Ojeyle was our best player on the floor last night.  Consistent throughout, keeping the Celtics in the game even when Korkmaz was scorching hot.  He looked like a 2nd year player playing in total control in the summer league and that's the kind of advancement we want to see.

BTW phila is probably very pleased with Korkmaz' showing.  It's not often that a kid blows up for 40 points in the summer league.  He's going to give them a nice outside shooting option.  He was a late 1st rounder, #26.

Speaking of late 1st rounders, it's too bad that Williams got hurt because our rookie looked pretty good.  He showed his athleticism with a dunk, showed off his midrange game, grabbed rebounds confidently and was pretty much as advertised physically.  Hoping the knee is not tweaked badly and he can return to the summer league lineup soon.

[rollie mass]

Hassan would fit right in with Jaylen and Semi-he made Deans List when he graduated.He is above the rim guy,a soft finisher and hangs his hat on defense.

[erisred]

Hassan Martin  at 6-7 230 was Semi like-moved well
Made me curious enough to look him up URI graduate undrafted did a summer league then a stint overseas.

He was my first thought, too. I doubt Hassan Martin can make it if he can't knock down 3's consistently, though.

I thought Uthoff got better as the game went on. I think he's bound for Europe or the G League.

I thought Williams did fine, for only 6 minutes. That wasn't enough time on the floor for him to even get comfortable.

As far as the others, Bird looked good, but not great. Yabs was very inconsistent ranging from very good to very bad almost from play to play. Semi looked good as I expected him to look. Allen is still not a shooter, but he can defend and ran the point better than most points do in Summer League.

Frankly, though, I was also impressed by the big 76'er C...Pole, Peel, something like that. I really wanted to see Williams match up with him. Then there was Kormaz...impressive on offense, but I want to see if he can do that again.

[csfansince60s]

Bird and Allen

Bird always looks good. I don't understand why he doesn't get more playing time.

This....TP.

When it was time to set the playoff roster, many on here, including myself, were strongly pushing to dump no-good Nader and sign Bird to a vet minimum.

There were two arguments people used against this;

1. We would lose a year of control over Bird if we signed him for the playoffs

and

2. He wouldn't make any difference in any series in the playoffs.

In retrospect, I strongly disagree with #2.

In Game 7, Stevens only played 7 guys...that's right, SEVEN. Larkin was out and Stevens decided to play 7 vs Cleveland's 9.

We were gassed, and that's the main reason why we lost.

Everyone talked about Cleveland being old and gassed. We may have been younger, but we were cooked.....toast. No energy in the last 6 minutes after Tatum's slam over Bron Bron.

Stevens should have played Ojeleye or even Monroe, if for no other reason than to give our Magnificent 7 a rest.

But if Bird were on the roster, he could've been the guard to replace Larkin. Jaylen, Smart and Rozier were our only guards to play.....not enough. Bird could've played with either Rozier or Smart.

That series came down to a razor's edge. Bird's presence as a serviceable 4th guard could've given our guys just a little more rest. He could've been an influence in that Game 7.